Electronic News Gathering
This chapter explores both types of electronic news gathering (ENG): recorded coverage and live coverage. Recorded coverage consists of audio and video that you shoot to be edited into a story later. Live coverage is the audio and video feed that you send to your home station or organization to be transmitted live via television or the Internet. Before examining both types of coverage, it is important to understand why this training is important, because more and more is expected of electronic journalists in the world of news today.
VISUAL JOURNALISTS
In today’s information-rich environment, more and more responsibility is given to the individual “visual journalist” or “video journalist” (VJ; a.k.a., the “one-person-band”). With the shrinking size of both news budgets and camera equipment, it is possible—and increasingly expected—that one person covers a story for all media. (See Figure 2.1.) The role of the VJ in news gathering, editing, and dissemination is vital.
In a typical scenario, a news reporter covers a story alone. She takes a camera with a tripod and a microphone. She sets up the camera, flips the viewfinder forward so she can see her own framing and composition, plugs in the external mic, hits Record, steps in front of the camera, and records her own “stand-up.” She interviews those whom she selects for the news package. Perhaps she switches her camcorder to Photo mode and shoots some stills of the interviewees. When she’s done with the interviews and stand-ups, she shoots her B-roll video—various wide shots, medium shots, and close-ups—always looking for unique subjects and angles to illustrate the story. Perhaps she shoots more still photos as well.
Back in her office, she writes the script, records the voice-over (VO), and edits the video package together for the live television newscast. Perhaps she edits a shorter version for the organization’s web site, maybe even with a slightly different script and VO. For the live telecast, graphics and titles are added as the program airs; for the streaming version, she adds the titles and graphics in postproduction. She also writes a print story and attaches some photographs to it. Perhaps her company owns or partners with a print media outlet, such as a newspaper or magazine, and her report goes there. Perhaps she also writes a shorter version of her print story for the web site. If the company is affiliated with a radio station, maybe she lifts the audio from the interviews, writes new copy for radio, records new VO, and edits together an audio-only news package.
FIGURE 2.1
Many reporters, such as this student videographer, take a small camera to shoot both video and still images to “repurpose” the story for different media, which might include TV, radio, the Internet, podcasts, and print.
While this scenario might be a little exaggerated to cover all media, the point is not exaggerated. Today’s ENG producers-shooters-editors must be prepared to repurpose their video, audio, stills, and graphics for different distributions outlets, whether traditional television (terrestrial, cable, satellite), radio (terrestrial, cable, satellite), print (newspaper, magazine, specialty), the Internet (web sites, streaming, podcasts), or cell phone (podcasts). The aural and visual elements may be acquired in many different ways, from taking out the cell phone and pressing Record to cover some action that suddenly breaks out with no time to set up equipment; to setting up a professional camera and microphone (perhaps a high-definition single-lens reflex camera (HDSLR) that shoots hi-def 1080p video); to finding shots and sounds on the Internet—legally, of course, either obtaining the necessary permission or using only public domain materials. Whatever the case, if the resulting story is to have merit and be telecast via any media outlets, it is critical that these one-person VJs be trained in all aspects of ENG coverage, both recorded and live. That is the purpose of the first part of this chapter.
PART ONE: RECORDED COVERAGE
The decisions you make in the field while shooting give your video a look or a particular style. Because no two people see the same scene in the same way, your vision of what is possible with the camera becomes your style. Within the world of ENG, you must operate under certain constants while shooting. These constants help the viewer identify the type of story being told, and they also act as an overlay to your individual style—not replacing it, but limiting it to certain parameters.
ENG stories tend to fall into one of several categories: spot news, general news, feature news, and sports news. Each of these areas requires a unique approach on the part of the videographer, and each has its own guidelines that define a certain look. When a story is assigned to you, the nature of that story sets up certain expectations about how it will look and how you will approach the shooting.
SPOT NEWS
Although spot news is the reason most photographers come to TV news, it is the hardest ENG style to master. It is truly what shooting news is all about. Whether it’s a gunfight between law enforcement and a cult group, a raging war in a distant land, or an attempted assassination of the president, you—because of your presence—are recording history. Even the most mundane event can suddenly become a moment in time that will live forever.
That means how well you do your job will also live forever. If you fail, generations to come will miss seeing that dramatic moment. Think for a moment how many events in history you remember by the pictures you saw. Think how much less impact the events would have had if they had not been recorded on film or tape. If we never saw an atomic explosion, would we be as awed by its power? If no camera had recorded the first man stepping onto the moon, would that step have had the same historical impact? If we would not see stories of war on the news, would we really grasp the death and suffering?
News photography lets the viewer see and hear things as if he or she were actually present. An ENG shooter’s job is to bring the event to the viewer so that the viewer can react to what is happening. It is not the shooter’s job to tell someone, for example, that a war is immoral, but rather to show what a war is like, what is taking place, and the effect it has on those involved.
Most news videographers will never be in a position to record a major part of history, but some will be because they are at the right place at the right time. Therefore, each videographer must be prepared to rise to the occasion. When shooting spot news, the photographer will be in one of three situations: (1) in the middle of what is happening, (2) in the middle of the aftermath, or (3) stuck on the perimeter while the event is happening or just after it has happened.
FIGURE 2.2
The attempted assassination of President Reagan, March 30, 1981.
Shooting in the Middle of the Action
One of the most famous examples of shooting in the middle of the action is the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in March 1981. (See Figure 2.2.) Although this example occurred decades ago, it remains a useful exemplar of ENG shooting. The camera crews assigned to shoot every move the president makes had no idea what was about to occur on that fateful morning. Within a few seconds, the calm scene was transformed into one of utter chaos. The photographers had to operate on instinct and training to capture that moment of history. Some did better than others at capturing the event. The best shooting came from an NBC cameraman, who held his shot wide until he could tell what was going on and then decided what was most important to show. He moved the camera and used the zoom lens to take viewers from one horrible section of the scene to the next, pausing just long enough to show what was happening before moving to the next area of action. No shaky zooms or wild pans whipping around to distort what the picture contained. The cameraman found and held the shot on each element in the story in the order of its importance. You can see this historic footage by searching for it on YouTube.
Imagine the amount of self-control it took to do his job under these circumstances. Not many people could have done it, but this is the situation you must always anticipate if you work in news. It does not have to be the president; it could happen at a simple court hearing or as you follow a mail carrier on his route. Sometimes unexpected events happen when a camera is there. A simple demonstration by a student group might escalate into a full-scale riot with you at the center.
If you find yourself in the middle of an unfolding situation, keep your lens at its widest setting and keep your camera recording. It sounds simple, but it is surprising how many good pieces of news have been lost because this rule was not followed. If the story is breaking around you, you must shoot it as you would see it. Don’t zoom in to one element and exclude the others that are still happening. Pan if you have to, or walk to a better vantage point, but save the zoom for later when you feel more in control of the elements.
Keep Recording Above all, keep recording. From the moment the camera is turned on, keep shooting and don’t stop for any reason. After things settle down or you gain control of the situation, you can be more selective about what to shoot. Remove the lens cap and zoom wide after you hit the Record button; run from your car or van while already in the Record mode; try to make every second viable. Even when you are running with the camera to get a better position, keep the camera on the action and as steady as possible. By keeping the camera on, you cover yourself in the event something unexpected takes place while you are at the location. Many times, the biggest moment of drama comes from seemingly nowhere.
FIGURE 2.3
A still frame from video of the Japanese tsunami the moment before a boat tips over the seawall onto the flooded street below and is washed away under the highway bridge by the roiling mass of water. Japan, March 11, 2011. (Courtesy of Asia News Network and Russia Today)
Some of the most dramatic footage from the great Japanese 9.0 earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 came from amateur shooters who kept recording from balconies or other high spots even as the water swelled beneath their feet. Obviously, if you find yourself in actual danger, you should get out of harm’s way quickly. If possible, zoom wide and run or drive with the camera pointed in the direction of the action. Once you are safe, you can frame and compose shots more carefully. In the case of the tsunami, much of the footage reveals that the shooters could not have run to any higher ground before the waves hit, so they recorded from their vantage points as the water roiled around them. One videographer caught a tremendous wave as it came inland, carrying boats, cars, and debris, smashing everything as it roared ahead, rising above the seawall meant to retain it, crashing down on cars and buildings as it poured onto the street below, sweeping away all that was in its path, including a boat that tipped over the seawall and was dragged away under an adjacent highway bridge by the torrential flood. (See Figure 2.3.)
Keep the Lens Setting Wide The previous point—record continuously—is one of the reasons to stay wide. Camera movement is less noticeable when the shot is wide, and you also have a smaller chance of missing some important action. These are events you will not be able to get later; once they are missed, they are gone forever. Use the camera as you use your eyes—let the viewer see as much as possible of what you see. Let it all take place before you. Use the zoom only to maintain the field of action. Go in only as tight as is necessary to eliminate areas of “dead” space.
Look as You Shoot Remember to look up once in a while. With the lens wide, you can easily take your face away from the viewfinder and look around as you shoot. Watch your back. Look out for danger, and make sure you aren’t getting in the way of emergency personnel. Above all, look for any elements you might be missing because your eye is glued to the ones in the viewfinder. When covering an event such as a riot, this technique could save your life.
Hold the Shots You must learn to count in your head while you shoot. In the middle of a breaking story, time will become very distorted. When you think you have a long enough shot of one particular element, you probably do not. Ten is a great number to use. Unless you must change shots to capture something that is leaving the scene or providing a more dramatic element, count to 10 before making any changes in your shot. This technique allows the viewer time to perceive the shot and gives the editor the ability to cut out pans and walking shots to condense the event for presentation.
Get Static Shots Don’t forget to get set shots or statics. If the action slows for a moment, look for a good composition that you can make near where you are positioned. Don’t stop recording, but slide to the next camera angle and hold the shot as if on a tripod. Try to find the most dramatic angle you can—one that shows the totality of the event either literally or symbolically. Use this moment to catch your breath and organize your thoughts as to where you should be next. Just take in the scene, read it, and try to anticipate the next area of likely action. These statics will probably be some of your best shots.
Check Your Gear Often Don’t panic in the middle of an action scene. Move to your first shot and count it out, go to the next shot and count it out, and keep recording. Check the camera often to make sure it is indeed in the Record mode, and check your audio often to make sure the sound is there and not too low or overmodulated. Stay wide, keep shooting, time your shots by counting in your head, and look for the most important elements to photograph. Stay with the action, and check all of your systems as often as possible.
Shooting in the Aftermath
The second example of a spot news situation is one in which the main action is over and all that remains is the aftermath. For example, you arrive at the scene of a gas explosion shortly after the firefighters have begun to aid the victims. This situation can also be very intense with quite a bit of pressure, but for the most part things are under control. While you should still follow many of the same principles as when shooting in the middle of the action, a situation like this usually gives a photographer more time to make shots. Shooting in the aftermath is the most common type of spot news. It still requires hustle to get all the elements, but nothing new is going to happen. All the fire equipment is in place, the medical personnel are attending the injured, or the police have subdued the gunman.
In this type of aftermath situation, you do not need to record the entire time, but the situation does demand fast decision-making nonetheless. You are still trying to present the story as the viewers would see and hear it if they were present. Because the events are under more control than in the first situation, your shooting can be more controlled.
Look for a Variety of Shots Look for a good opening wide shot, and try to stay wide for most of the action shots. Because things are not moving as quickly, you have the time to look for medium shots and, above all, close-ups. With the zoom lens, you can pursue the tight shots of faces that really tell the stories of the individuals involved, without fear of losing other elements of the story.
Look for the Action With your knowledge of sequencing and storytelling elements, you should know what shots to get and be out there getting them while staying out of the way. The key is always to look for the action—shoot what moves, but keep with the story. Do not get sidetracked with unimportant things like shooting the crowd of onlookers. As when shooting in the middle of the action, this type of shooting is often off the shoulder, so use your feet as much as possible to get close to each element.
Focus on the Story Do not include extraneous shots in what you shoot; you are merely wasting time and tape or file space. If the spectators are not part of the story, do not shoot them. If the police are having a hard time moving them back, then they are part of the story. If the story has enough action in it, there is no need for a cutaway, and you should look for transition shots instead. By varying angles and focal lengths, the piece should fit together without the useless shot of uninvolved people watching.
In many cases, it will be obvious that the main element of the story is happening when you arrive. It might be as simple as flames shooting from a building’s windows or as subtle as a single person lying on the ground surrounded by a few people. Generally, a quick look around at the people involved will give you a clue as to where the main action is. If firefighters are rushing to the back of a building, maybe you should, too, if you can.
FIGURE 2.4
When shooting spot news, the ENG photographer tries to get shots of the action that tell a story: (A) the visual intensity of the fire; (B) and (C) the human element—how the fire affects people; and (D) the aftermath as the firefighters make sure their job is done.
The thing you must never forget is to focus on the people involved. If there is a rescue unit at the scene of a fire, then look for the injured. Stop by the ambulance first, since it will soon be leaving for the hospital; the building will be there for quite awhile. You might miss some of the best flames, but without the people the story would be lacking even more. A quick soundbite from a victim on the way to the hospital, describing a narrow escape, can sink the competition’s shot of the flames you missed. Do not spend too much time on any one element. Keep moving. Look for those small but potentially powerful human elements that can take your story above and beyond the rest. Look for the elements that will not last long, and get them as soon as you can. Decide which things will move and which will be there later when things are calmer or you have more time.
As the story is winding down, look for a good closing shot. The typical one for a fire story is that of a lone firefighter sitting on the curb, with smoldering ashes in the background, removing an air mask and wiping away the sweat. Or, it might be a person quietly grieving at the site of the fire or the water to the hoses being turned off. It might be literal, such as the ambulance driving off. It might be symbolic, such as a tight shot of the police yellow or red tape blowing in the wind. You want to leave the viewer with a sense that the story is over. The closing shot should say “The End.”
If the story is only going to run as a 20-second voice-over, there will be no air time to use such shots. For this type of presentation, you simply need the best 20 seconds of the event with the most action possible and that all-important human element. (See Figure 2.4.)
Shooting on the Perimeter
In the third example of spot news, you are restricted from close access to the action. If you are held blocks away from a chemical leak or hostage situation, you must be prepared to use the tripod and shoot at the longest focal length possible. This situation is the reason most cameras have a lens with a 2× extender that doubles the focal length. It is impossible to shoot at those focal lengths from off your shoulder—they’re just too shaky. If the tripod is not available, rest the camera on the ground or on anything else that will steady the picture.
Look for Movement Because of your distance from the location of the actual event, you need to keep a sharp eye peeled for any movement. The action might be simple, such as people moving around police cars or fire engines, but any movement is better than none at all. In this situation more than any other, you need to shoot anything that moves: additional equipment arriving at the scene, officials talking on two-way radios, or SWAT team members suiting up. Any movement can become symbolic action.
Remember the Edit Room You might encounter a situation in which you will not get a shot of the real story, but you must have pictures of some sort to show on the air. In this case, you must come as close as you can to depicting the story with your shots. Sometimes this means just a shot of the police tape used at a crime scene to keep out unauthorized persons and a police officer standing next to it. Or it might be just the police car used for the roadblock keeping you out.
Never walk away from anything without enough video to cover a one-minute story, and avoid shooting the same shot over and over. This can really tax your creative skills, but you have to think like an editor: What am I going to use to cover this script? In a situation where the pertinent pictures are few and far between, a shot of onlookers could be useful; they still have nothing to do with the story, but they can help pad a piece that is already visually weak.
Stay Near the Center of Information In most cases in which you are restricted from the scene and held far from any direct action, you will usually be able to be at or near the command center set up by the controlling agency. This will become your major source of pictures for the story. You might get better shots later on, but you cannot count on that. This is why you should shoot everything you can until you have exhausted the possibilities. Police officers looking at a map, conferring with each other, or even just walking from one place to another will do. If the event goes on for quite awhile, the station will either ask for some footage to be fed back or ask for a live update with a video insert. You had better have some footage to give them, and you certainly better be carrying more than one tape or memory card with you.
Don’t Overshoot When real pictures are scarce, be selective in the amount of footage you shoot. After you have that initial group of shots to cover a short script, fall back, observe, and conserve batteries and tape or file space for a chance at some real action. You shouldn’t have to record more than four to six minutes of video if you are making every shot really count. There is no point in getting volumes of generic video that look like the same shots over and over.
Use the Tripod The sticks allow you to use the longest focal lengths to reach into any scene visually, picking out shots your shoulder-mounted competition cannot get. They might also be the only shots you can get. Without the tripod—and with two to three hours of waiting—your shoulder will not be able to perform later when you might really need it. If you’re on the sticks, you can always pull the camera off them quickly and run with it, should the need arise.
DEALING WITH THE AUTHORITIES
Before shooting any spot news, you should have a press pass, or ID card, issued by the law enforcement agencies of your city, county, and state. This identifies you as a bona fide member of a news organization. Without this pass, shooting spot news can be a risky and sometimes impossible job. A press pass sometimes even gets you across police and fire lines to gain better access to the event. Sometimes the pass is worthless, and at other times it can get you into more trouble than it keeps you out of. However, without it you do not stand a chance. The press pass involves some serious responsibilities. If the authorities let you into or close to the scene, you cannot interfere with what they are doing or disobey any special requests they have. Such requests might include not showing a certain area of a fire scene that is part of an arson investigation, or not showing the face of an undercover agent. If you violate the trust given you, your future dealings with that agency are jeopardized, as well as those of your employer and other members of the press—not to mention the harm you can do to the agency or the investigation.
It is not a good idea to try to outwit the authorities. It is quite impossible to shoot the rest of the story from the backseat of a police car. In some cases, the risk involved in going around authority can be life threatening. You would not want to be in a deranged sniper’s line of fire! Police–media relations are always strained at best, but the only good course of action is to play by the rules. Sometimes there will be a need to circumvent the authorities to get at the really good pictures of the story. These decisions can only be made on a case-by-case basis and must be made with the clear understanding that what you are doing is illegal and may harm you or someone else. Just like a combat photographer, if you are willing to accept the ultimate responsibility, then you do as you think best. If you do get into trouble disobeying an authority, your employer will most likely not help you out of it. This is similar to getting a speeding ticket on your way to a story—you are on your own when breaking the law.
Flexibility and creativity are key when shooting in protected situations. For example, one reviewer of this text reported that he was the news photographer for a small crew covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in 2005. Even with their press credentials, the authorities were not inclined to let the crew members into restricted areas. So each morning, they bought a few hundred dollars’ worth of bottled water. When they arrived at the closed-off scene, they showed both their press passes and their stacks of water. The water did the trick: They were allowed access to cover the story while also bringing water to hurricane victims.
GOING LIVE
On any major spot news story, there will likely be a voice on your two-way radio or cell phone screaming for a live shot even before you arrive on the scene. The pressure to get on the air first can be so great that actually shooting the story becomes a secondary consideration. Often, the situation requires you to be in two places and do two things at the same time. You have to decide what to do. Shoot the pending dramatic rescue, or pull cables for the live shot? This might seem like a simple choice, but the voice on the mobile phone can make it a very hard decision. Most of the time you’ll know what to do by instinct.
You will also most likely not be alone for long. Any big story is going to have all the resources of the station thrown at it. You might be able to shoot footage because the second videographer arriving will do the live. Try to coordinate on the radio or phone even before you get to the location. If you’re the second to arrive from your station, you should be thinking live shot. Let the first in be the primary for shooting coverage, and you can set up the system for getting the footage out to the world. The assignment desk might coordinate all this, but in any leadership vacuum, be ready to step in with a plan to get the story on the air with the best coverage you can and the quickest way you can. That is spot news.
BE PREPARED
Spot news requires instinct and a great deal of luck. You can increase the luck factor by always being prepared. If your equipment is organized, easy to get to, and well maintained, and you know what is required to make a good story, then when the big one comes your way, the Emmy is yours. Shoot with both eyes open, always looking for the next shot, impending danger, or anything else that might be about to happen. Keep your eyes moving but your camera steady. And check your systems: If you aren’t recording, you won’t get the shot; and if you don’t have audio, that’s what people will remember about you for years to come—“So-and-so had the pictures and not one peep of audio; it could have been a career-making story.”
General News
This category of news stories, as the label implies, is very general. Most stories fall under this heading. These are stories about the city council, the plans to build a new housing development for the elderly, or the strike by local bus drivers. Most storytelling techniques apply directly to this form of news. The main concept in general news, sometimes called hard news, is to communicate ideas or information to the viewer. The story must be very understandable, with a good beginning, middle, and end. On this type of story, the reporter and videographer must work closely to produce the maximum impact on the viewer.
Presentation is of utmost importance. The subject matter might be the dullest in the world, but if the information is important (or if the boss demands the story), the story must be done and done well. As they say, “There’s no such thing as a boring story, only a boring approach.” The idea is never to lose a viewer; never give a viewer the opportunity to say “so what” or “who cares” to what you are presenting—or, worse yet, switch channels.
GET A GOOD FIRST SHOT
Always make the first shot of the story count. More than likely, it will be your best shot, and it should be. Grab the viewers’ attention immediately to get them into the rest of the story. As a general rule, it is bad form to open a story with a talking head or a reporter stand-up. This opening looks too much like the people on the news set—that is, a person talking without showing you anything. If television news becomes the same as radio, why watch?
Sound is also important in the first shot. A natural sound clip is a good opening for almost any story. A dramatic soundbite can also be a good opening, but good ones do not occur that often. In an opening shot of a street construction story, the sound of the jackhammer (if one is in the shot), turned up full for about two seconds, can set the story’s tone and topic. “Get ready, Seattle, the streets are being torn up.”
CREATE VISUAL SOUNDBITES
The worst thing about general news stories is the lengthy talking head shots that can make up the bulk of the video. While interviews are the bread and butter of TV news, they do not have to be the most boring part of the story. As with anything in TV news, the talking head can be overused. Most reporters use two basic styles of talking heads: one to make the stories they have written more credible, and the other to let the subjects tell their own stories. The former is a traditional journalistic style, in which importance is placed on the reporter’s ability to interpret and analyze; the latter is a style of simply allowing subjects to present their points at length, with little additional comment from the reporter. Both styles have their place, although letting subjects tell their own story is better suited to feature reports.
In either case, the talking head should be well shot. If the subject is to be on camera for a long time (maybe as much as two minutes in a three-minute story), then the interview had better be pleasing and interesting to watch for the entire time. By shooting each answer during the interview at a different focal length (changing focal lengths during the question) or maybe doing some answers in a reporter–subject two-shot, the parts used for the edited interview might vary enough to add some interest beyond nice framing. (See Figure 2.5.)
You may sometimes opt to do parts of the same interview at different times and different locations. If the same subject is to be heard many times within the story, it might be possible to shoot in more than one location. One bite might have the subject behind a desk; another might come from a walking conversation with the reporter; and still another might have the subject on a balcony overlooking the factory. It takes a little more time to do the interview, but the results are far better.
Another way that can work in certain situations is simply different perspectives or angles within the same basic setting. By moving the camera to different points of view within the room for different sections of the interview, the edited piece can look like a multicamera shoot. A good idea is to shoot a master shot, or establishing shot, followed by a series of setups, or different camera positions, including over-the-shoulder (O/S) shots, medium shots, and close-ups. An important guideline in this situation is the 30-degree rule: Each camera setup should be at least 30 degrees or more from the other setups, without “crossing the line”—the action axis or 180-degree rule. (See Figure 2.6.) If the camera setups are too close to each other, the shots do not vary much from one to the next, making the story less interesting visually, and possibly causing the editor to make jump cuts between shots with similar framing. The important thing is to work with the reporter or producer to find creative ways of avoiding long stretches of static talking heads.
FIGURE 2.5
To make this interview for a school-related story look interesting, the shooter (1) placed the subject in front of a background that adds context—a school bus; (2) keystoned the background, using diagonal lines that run along the z-axis, converging toward an out-of-frame vanishing point, to add depth perspective; (3) used selective focus to add additional depth and to draw attention to the in-focus subject by defocusing the background; and (4) canted the camera—tilted the horizon line—to add a youthful feel to the youthful subject.
COVER LONG SOUNDBITES WITH VIDEO
When a piece does have long stretches of talking heads or long soundbites, try to cover as much of them as possible with B-roll—all the shots other than the interviews or talking heads (which are the A-roll). These might be establishing shots, close-ups, inserts, cutaways, or anything else that includes images and action relevant to the story. If you are going to use several bites or one long-running bite from a subject, the audience only needs to see that individual for about 5 seconds. In that time, the voice is established with a name and a face so the picture portion is free to show what he or she is talking about—the B-roll footage.
FIGURE 2.6
Diagram of the 180-degree and 30-degree rules for camera setups. The circles represent two subjects, with the 180-degree line between them. The two camera positions are on the same side of that line, with at least 30 degrees of separation.
A 20-second soundbite of the builder of a new housing project could have the last 15 seconds or so covered by related video (plans of the building, construction underway, etc.). Try also to make this video lead into the next audio, whether it is another talking head or a reporter voice-over. The sequence you started over the interview continues, if ever so slightly, over the beginning of the next section of script.
The same can be done in reverse. If the reporter’s track is about housing construction, and it leads into a soundbite from the builder, let the video of construction overlap the first 5 to 10 seconds of the builder’s 20-second bite. The builder’s face then appears and connects with the voice, but the length of the talking head has been reduced in favor of more interesting video.
If the builder is to appear twice fairly close together in a piece—two bites separated by a brief reporter’s comment—the second bite need not have the builder on camera at all; that entire bite can be covered by B-roll. This assumes that you have enough video to cover all the soundbites and that your video is appropriate to go over the audio.
KEEP THE STORY MOVING
Often you will not have enough video (or any appropriate video) to use in or around talking heads. Say the construction project story is done on a day where the workers are off. In these situations, you need to provide a large variety of two-shots, cutaways, and setup shots to help fill the time. Remember, any story looks better when people are in the shots. Instead of using only unpopulated shots of the site, try to find a variety of ways of working in the subject and the reporter—the only people you have. An example of a setup shot getting into a soundbite might be a zoom-out from the plans on the wall to a wide two-shot of the builder and reporter talking, or shots of them walking around the site. Taken from many angles and distances to them, you can use these shots to cover both the script and long soundbites. Shots like these fill the time and keep the video moving.
ILLUSTRATE THE TOPIC
The hardest thing to do in general news stories is to find pictures that go with the topic. If the story is about illegal campaign funds, the challenge will be to find pictures. By working closely with the reporter or producer, a videographer should begin early in the shooting process to visualize the unfolding story. There might be nothing to shoot but leaked memos that are nothing more than pieces of paper. If that’s the case, make them into a piece of art. Place them on a desktop, light them up nicely (perhaps use a gobo pattern), and try some slow pans or tilts. (See Figure 2.7.)
FIGURE 2.7
Two alternatives to shooting this document square and flat: (A) the paper is at an angle and highlighted with a shaft of light; (B) the light is shining through a water glass to create a pattern across the paper.
Whatever the topic of the story, you must start thinking of ways to cover the future script with video. Be creative. Think symbolism. A story on the hay fever season might make use of tight shots of pollen-producing weeds blowing in the breeze. Better yet, use tight shots of them in the foreground with people in the background. Or, try just a tight shot of a tissue box with a hand pulling out a tissue. The shot is symbolic of the sneezing that’s associated with the pollen without finding someone doing it or staging the shot (a big no-no). The bottom line is that every story has pictures. The earlier you start thinking about which ones to get, the better.
General news stories are serious and businesslike in subject matter and approach. Your photography should reflect the same characteristics. There is no staging of events or the subject’s actions. Your job is to represent the subject or event as accurately, simply, and clearly as possible, while at the same time making it interesting or at least pleasing to watch. This type of story can be the greatest challenge to the news shooter. It is the place where names are made in this industry. If you can make a city council story come alive and be visually interesting as a feature without staging the shots, then the rest of what you do in this business will be easy.
Feature News
This category is perhaps the most freeform of all. Feature stories are usually lighthearted looks at people and events, or involved pieces about lighter or more personal, intimate subjects. They are not hard news by any means; rather, they are referred to as soft news. That doesn’t mean they are comedies, but simply stories told more like essays than news reports. The stories in this category should entertain, touch, or somehow connect with the viewer on a personal level. Approach feature news with an emphasis on creativity; this type of story is a rare chance for both reporter and news photographer to be as wild and imaginative, or as inspiring and engaging, as possible.
Music usually adds lightness or emotion to feature stories and allows the editor to do some creative cutting. While there might be only one such story in a newscast, the feature piece can be the most memorable in the show. In what can be a very depressing news day, people like to feel good about something or feel touched by another human being’s experience. The feature gives viewers the chance to end the news time on a spiritual high note.
The story might be a picture essay on a skydiving contest with no reporter, or a simple story about children picking out pumpkins for Halloween. Almost any positive or good-news subject can be made into a good feature if a creative approach is used. Do not treat the feature as a nonstory and therefore a throwaway, even if it seems like an ad for some company. The audience feels this type of story is important. It is your job to make it work creatively. The feature can also be a profile of the town’s oldest volunteer, struggling to teach poor kids how to read, or the personal story of one mother’s fight to change the laws after losing her only child to a drunk driver. Whether you are showing a two-year-old rolling a pumpkin home or the tears of one person’s crusade for a better society, the feature aims at the heart of the viewer.
It can take a whole day, a week, or even a month to do a good feature story. Or it can take an hour. The idea can be mapped out well in advance and shot a little at a time until the piece comes together. Features need not be timely, so they can air at any time. They have a longer “shelf life” than general or hard news. Soft news stories allow more work to be put into them. However, you will not always be given that time.
TRY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
Feature news provides a chance to use all the tricks of shooting and editing: odd angles, dramatic camera moves, unusual lighting, quick edits, wipes, and other special effects. (See Figures 2.8 and 2.9.)
Features are the perfect place to use dissolves. No approach or technique is too unusual for the feature story as long as it fits the story. Try whatever you can to make your piece stand out and touch your audience. Good lighting, beautifully framed shots, slow zooms, dissolves, and symbolic images can come together in a feature story to touch even the most hardened news watcher. If you can feel with your camera and your editing, then the viewer will also feel. The audience should come away from the piece affected by what you have shown.
Many feature stories take on the air of a Hollywood movie. They might be a parody of a harder story, such as a tongue-in-cheek piece on a professional baseball league strike. The production of the story might become just as involved as any commercial shoot. The thing that separates pure journalism from this style of TV news is its goals. A general news story on the success of this year’s must-have Christmas toy would discuss the toy’s creator, sales, and so forth. A feature on the toy might simply be about a character (perhaps the reporter) trying to understand how this unlikely toy became this year’s Christmas bestseller, with people camping outside stores to get it. The character might demonstrate other tongue-in-cheek uses for the toy, such as a door stop, and end with the toy being run over by a steamroller.
FIGURE 2.8
Shooting extreme close-ups (XCUs) and layering shots, such as this frame from a story on hummingbirds, can enhance the visual experience.
FIGURE 2.9
The framing of this child uses selective focus and foreground to give added emphasis to the tears on his cheeks.
The first piece informs; the second entertains with little regard for information other than to point out that the toy is popular.
Do not mislead the viewer. If the piece is to entertain, make sure it is obvious that is what’s happening. Blending fact and fiction can be a dangerous game. Make sure that what you are doing has clearly defined goals and that facts are never lumped in with staged material—keep them separate in the viewer’s mind. A feature on a new private fishing lake might be mostly fact, but a shot of the reporter pulling a three-foot shark out of the water might lead some viewers to think sharks are in the lake. Make sure there is only one possible interpretation of what you are doing in the story and that any jokes are clearly understood to be just that.
Sports News
Many videographers love to shoot sports. If there is a slot on the staff for a full-time sports shooter, it’s never without a waiting list to fill it. Shooting sports has become an art form all its own. Sports video falls into two categories: features and competition.
FEATURES
The ENG photographer shoots a sports feature much like the news feature—with the maximum amount of creativity and involvement. If you are doing a piece on a boxer training for a fight, get in the ring (if they let you) and have the boxer spar right at the camera lens. This type of involvement can bring the subject up close for the viewer and give a perspective not available during a match.
You can do something similar for any sport. Use the fact that it is only practice to get the camera involved in places where it normally could not be used. Gymnastics is a good sport for features: Put the camera under the gymnasts, let them jump over the camera, or put the camera right on the balance beam. Make these stories fun to do and fun to watch, while trying to show the hard work taking place.
COMPETITION
As an ENG photographer, you will shoot sports competition mainly for highlights or to capture a very short portion of the event, whereas competition coverage for electronic field production (EFP) is often live coverage of the entire event. Almost all sporting events should be shot from a tripod, unless other footage is being obtained from the company covering the event. Choose a good vantage point from which all the action is visible.
The public is used to seeing sports shot with many cameras. Most of the time you will have only one camera, but be required to do just as good a job and not miss any of the action. The best location for almost any sport is from above and as much to the center of the action as possible.
Basketball and Football For basketball, the ideal location is on the half-court line, about one-third of the way up the rows of seats. Floor angles are nice, and you should get some if they let you, but if a major play is at the far end of the court, you stand a good chance of missing it or having your view blocked by the referee or other players. The high shot gets all the action clearly and allows you to zoom in or out to include as much of the action as you want. The same is the case with football. Field-level shooting is very exciting, especially from the end zone, but the best view is always from the press box or the equivalent.
If many plays are to be used as highlights, it is impractical to use a cutaway between each of these plays. Good football plays usually end with a long run, or pass, or the score itself. The ending shot should look sufficiently different from the beginning of the next highlight, and there is little worry of a jump cut. In basketball, the field of action is much smaller, and therefore most of the players tend to be in the shot most of the time. For this sport it is a good idea to zoom in on the playmaker just after the points are scored. Besides emphasizing that player, this technique allows the editor to cut from that tight shot to the next highlight (which might be at the same end of the court), or to allow time for the reporter-anchor’s voice-over to talk about that player. Even in football, it is a good idea to zoom in to the key player as the play ends, unless you are already on a tight shot of that player.
Sideline photography, usually done off your shoulder, is a way to add a closer, more dramatic feel to your highlight shots. Field-level perspectives can really distort distance and speed (remember the “half-the-distance, twice-the-size” concept). The big risks are missing something or being run over. If you are covered by being able to take video from another source, such as the company broadcasting the game, then anything you might miss on the sidelines can be obtained elsewhere. The biggest problem with ground-level shooting is the perspective of the camera. It is hard to tell relative distances between players, which makes some plays actually look rather nondramatic. When you are learning how to shoot these two sports, it is better to master the high shot before moving to ground level.
Races Races of every kind—human, car, horse—involve tracks. As with basketball and football, the best angle is usually above the action at the center. This position allows you to see everyone in the race and to have the action pass in front of your camera. (See Figure 2.10.) If you are allowed, you might also set up a camera at the far end of a straight track or at the end of a straightaway on a circular track. From this perspective, you can shoot the racers head-on as they approach. Keep in mind, however, that you obviously cannot be on the track, so you have to use a telephoto (zoom) lens from far away. Because this compresses distance and makes moving objects appear slower, this angle causes the racers to seem closer together and moving at a slower speed than they actually are.
Baseball This sport is difficult to shoot with only one camera. Action is taking place in two areas at the same time, and it seems you should be following both the ball and the runners. Usually it is best to follow the ball until it is caught, then you can pan quickly to the runners. Just following the ball often gives you all the action anyway, but if it is a long double and a runner is headed for home, it can be difficult to show both. Do not take the easy way out and just go wide to show the whole field. A TV screen is too small for any of the real action to show up at all. If you miss the runner scoring, you can use a shot of the runner walking to the dugout as the run-scored shot.
FIGURE 2.10
A photographer captures a racehorse and rider as they pass in front of the camera position.
If you are above and directly behind home plate, you should see all the plays nicely. Start on a two-shot of the pitcher and batter (top and bottom of the picture from this camera position), and zoom in to follow the ball when it’s hit. If you lose the ball, zoom out wide and pan in the direction it went until you regain sight of it. (You will see the players running to where the ball is going.) Stay with it as you use your left eye to scan the infield for other action. If a runner is making it to home with little chance of being thrown out, quickly pan to that shot. Otherwise, stick with the ball. By making all of your moves as smooth as possible, even when you lose sight of the ball, no one will notice any errors on your part.
Golf and Hockey Golf balls and hockey pucks are difficult to follow: A golf ball is too small, and a hockey puck moves too fast. Staying fairly wide in hockey is the best way to avoid missing the play entirely. As you become familiar with the game, it is easier to anticipate where the puck is going. For golf, it takes a lot of practice to keep your eye glued to the ball.
Hockey is similar to basketball in how it is shot, except that it moves much faster. A good sports videographer can shoot hockey fairly tight, but most people cannot. It is best to be high up and at center ice to do the shooting and zoom in to the playmaker at the score. Golf is obviously a much slower game to shoot, but it can be the most strenuous to do because of all the walking between shots. It is best to be either directly behind or directly in front of the golfer. In front means way down the fairway, farther than it is possible to hit the ball. From behind, you can start wide and zoom in to follow the ball; from in front, you can start tight on the golfer and widen out to keep the ball from leaving the frame. Trying to whip-pan (pan the camera very fast) with the ball as it flies by you is not a good idea.
GENERAL SPORTS TIPS
A good rule of thumb when shooting any sport with which you are not familiar is to stay wide at first and slowly shoot it tighter as you become more comfortable with the game. Shooting too tightly at first can leave you faked out, causing you to miss the play, so choose your focal length carefully. If too many plays are getting away from you, widen out until you have better control. Above all, make it smooth. Do not jerk the camera or hesitate in a zoom or pan; make every movement seem like it is purposeful, whether it is or not.
Watch network or cable TV’s coverage of the sport that you are going to shoot. See how the experienced professionals do it; see the kinds of shots they get and how they follow the ball. Try to take what they are doing and adapt it to a one-camera shoot. The cuts that are done live on the network may have to be done in editing for you, but if you record the right elements, you can make it look pretty close to network coverage. The main thing is to follow the ball or stay with the leader. It takes practice and much concentration, but it is the only way to get professional results.
SUMMARY
ENG photographers are assigned to shoot a variety of formats, including spot, feature, general, and sports news. Understanding what’s expected of you for any assignment is a great advantage. By knowing the type of story you are assigned, you have a head start on achieving what’s expected. Like many jobs, TV news is fairly predictable in the type of work that is done. The story on the city council meeting has been done the same basic way for decades. Making a radical change in that approach might not go over big with the boss or the public. Adding a touch of your personal style and a little creative thought, however, can garner the attention of these two benefactors.
Basketball free throws are an example of changing style. Televised basketball used to stay on a fairly wide shot from the sidelines during free throws. Eventually, camera operators and directors tried a close-up on the player’s face, cutting to the wide shot with matched action just as the player began the free throw—the wide shot being necessary to follow the ball. Viewers liked seeing the concentration on the free-thrower’s face before the shot, so this is now the way most free throws are covered. Whatever the shots and whatever the edits, the number-one goal is always effective communication. With a good working knowledge of how each type of story is done, you can carefully take the viewer to your personal vision of that story.
PART TWO: LIVE COVERAGE
With today’s high-quality portable cameras, live news coverage is possible from just about anywhere. Live coverage is one reason why television news soared to such high levels of popularity. Just as an earlier generation listened to Edward R. Murrow giving live radio accounts of the bombings of London during World War II, today’s generation has watched US forces return from Iraq, refugees in Haiti clearing rubble after a devastating earthquake, revelers in the streets celebrating their team’s victory in the Super Bowl, and so on. While TV newscasts have lost some viewers in recent years due to competition from other news sources, such as the Internet and podcasts, many people still turn to TV news for their primary source of information. For example, on September 11, 2001, while many people learned of the horrific events of that morning on the radio or via a computer or from family or friends, almost all turned on their full-screen TV sets to watch the story unfold, witnessing the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center as it happened.
There can be no greater drama and no greater use of the medium than to see history being made live on the screen. Even on local news stations, the use of live TV has led to the same mesmerizing effect on viewers during events of great regional importance or curiosity, which are often picked up by national and international news sources. For example, on August 5, 2010, the San Jose gold and copper mine collapsed in Chile. Obviously, the story was big in that country as families, friends, and the entire nation watched to see if there were any survivors. Then 17 days later, rescuers made contact with 33 miners who were alive, having grouped together in an emergency shelter as the underground roof fell in. The chamber had an air hole and a two-day food supply, which they had rationed for over two weeks. The story became an international sensation as viewers around the globe tuned in to see the life-and-death drama unfold before their eyes. When it was clear that supplies, including electricity and a small projection TV, were getting to the trapped miners, interest outside of Chile waned for over a month. Then, on October 9, 2010, when drillers broke through to the chamber over 2,000 feet below ground with a 28-inch-wide rescue hole, the world tuned in once again. After reinforcing the shaft and testing the rescue capsule, the rescue of the miners began, with the first one, Florencio Avalos, safely brought to the surface to overwhelming cheers and emotion just after midnight on October 13, 69 days after the mine collapse. For the remainder of the day, the rescue operation continued, and hundreds of millions of viewers all over the planet watched as each miner was hoisted to safety and the arms of loved ones, to be greeted by Chilean president Sebastián Piñera. (See Figure 2.11.) The last miner, Luis Urzúa, emerged above ground at 9:55 PM, followed over the next few hours by the six medics and engineers who had descended in the capsule to help the miners.
Live TV has power of enormous proportion, which is accompanied by social responsibility. The use of live TV in the Afghanistan War is criticized both for elevating the reporter’s personal experience above that of the overall events and for possibly revealing too much information of use to the enemy. The only certainty is that millions watch. A reporter who panics or gives misinformation during a major story could have a profound effect around the world. On another level, local TV news is accused of reducing live TV to just another gimmick to attract viewers. For example, after the nation watched live coverage of O. J. Simpson in a white Ford Bronco, just about anyone on a freeway trying to elude police is likely to make a live story, even if the story lacks newsworthiness. Despite its drawbacks and misuses, live TV is the pinnacle of broadcast journalism when news breaks out anywhere in the world.
FIGURE 2.11
After the San Jose mine in Chile collapsed on August 5, 2010, 33 miners were found alive 17 days later (A). A rescue shaft was drilled over 2,000 feet to their chamber, and a rescue capsule was lowered with rescue worker Manuel Gonzalez Paves (B and C). Just after midnight on October 13, the first miner was brought up, Florencio Avalos, to a cheering crowd and hugs from his wife, son, and Chilean President Sebastián Piñera (D and E). Next was Mario Sepulveda Espina, who hugged his wife, gave souvenir rocks to President Piñera and others, and thanked the rescue workers (F). (AP photos, courtesy of the Chilean government)
Live TV can also be of considerable importance to the business world through teleconferences. Just as local news stations use live cameras to hype ratings, companies and educators can use live TV to add a new sense of immediacy to the information they convey. This section discusses the tools of live TV, its typical formats and uses, some tricks of the trade, and some common problems.
GETTING THE PICTURE OUT
The starting point of live TV transmission is the camera. Any broadcast-quality video camera can feed a transmitter. Often, the output of the camera is fed through a distribution amplifier (DA) to maintain proper video levels. A low video signal might not transmit well and will come across muddy, with increased noise (graininess) or poor color. A high, or hot, video signal might transmit as a washed-out picture, possibly causing a breakup in the transmission or noise in the audio portion. The most common faults in these two examples are either an improperly exposed camera or signal loss due to a long cable run from the camera to the transmitter. If these problems are not too extreme, the DA can correct them by its gain and equalizing functions. To operate, the DA must be connected to a waveform monitor to display the effects of any adjustments.
The four basic ways of transmitting a live picture from the field are by means of:
• Telephone lines
• Fiber-optic lines
• Microwaves
• Satellites
Telephone Lines
The local telephone company can set up a video-feed point from just about anywhere using a balanced line (different from a regular phone line). Because of the time necessary to set up this type of transmission, it is rarely used except for events such as election returns where there is plenty of lead time for installation. Because of deregulation in the telecommunications industry (especially the Telecommunications Act of 1996), it can be a challenge to find the right company or unit to deliver such a line, but most phone companies have experience with this delivery method. The lines can be run to just about anywhere that has phone service.
Fiber-Optic Lines
Similar to regular phone lines, newer phone systems have light-transmitting cables already in place. These fiber-optic lines carry light-encoded video and audio information to distant distribution centers with little loss of signal. This system’s benefits are best seen when using digital signals. Special encoders and decoders are needed at each end of the fiber line to change video and audio signals into laser light and back again.
Microwaves
Microwave equipment is relatively small and usually owned by the TV station using it. The most common placement of a microwave system is in a van (sometimes called a live truck, RF truck, or feeder) that has an antenna at the top of a telescoping mast that may go as high as 50 feet. (See Figure 2.12.) The truck usually has a reel of multiline cable (two video and four audio lines in one cable) that can stretch about 300 feet. A normal video cable allows up to a 1,000-foot run before the loss of signal becomes too great for the DA to compensate.
Microwave transmitters work in a spectrum of radio frequencies measured in gigahertz (GHz) and have specific channels assigned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The standard ENG channels have always been 2, 7, and 13 GHz. Each channel can be subdivided further into parts simply called A, B, C, D, and Center, with the option of the microwaves going clockwise or counterclockwise. These variations allow many stations in the same market, or many transmitters at one station, to transmit at the same time. With the increased use of this technology, more channels have been opened up, including 2.5, 6, 6.5, 10, 12, and 40 GHz. Generally, the lower the channel number, the easier it is to transmit over long distances.
FIGURE 2.12
Satellite and microwave trucks (feeders) are a common sight wherever major news events occur.
A microwave link can transmit up to 50 miles if there are no obstructions. Microwaves need a clear line of sight from transmitter to receiver to work. This is why the antenna (either a dish or golden rods) is on a mast and the receiver is usually on a mountaintop or the tallest building; the signal can then go from there to the station by a secondary microwave link or hard line (telephone lines). Because the microwave beam is very narrow, it is essential that the transmitting and receiving antennas be pointed precisely at each other. (See Figure 2.13.) When they are many miles apart, this is not an easy task. Experienced people at each end can accomplish this in a very short period of time—sometimes in seconds, if the operators are very good.
While the truck-mounted microwaves are usually on channels 2 or 7, a portable system called a mini-mic uses channels 13, 18, and 40 GHz. This shoebox-size transmitter can be placed in a backpack for the camera operator to wear; it can also be mounted on a small tripod near the camera to take the place of what might be a hard or impossible cable-run back to the live truck. Because the range of this small transmitter is limited, a mini-mic is used primarily in sports coverage or to replace a cable where mobility is the critical factor (e.g., from a high floor of a skyscraper). The receiver is at the live van where the signal is retransmitted to the station.
FIGURE 2.13
A microwave truck with its transmitter atop an extended mast for a clear line of sight with the receiver.
Satellites
With so many satellites in orbit today, almost anyone who has an uplink or downlink (a ground-to-satellite transmitter or receiver) can buy satellite time. Driven in part by 24-hour news channels (e.g., CNN, MSNBC), it is necessary to transmit breaking stories live to the whole country. While microwaves are limited to less than 50 miles and line of sight (although they can be relayed or hopped to greater distances), a portable satellite uplink mounted on a truck can go anywhere there is a road and sky. (See Figure 2.14.) Today, most stations in the top 100 markets have satellite trucks.
Many memorable TV moments have reached our eyes and ears via satellite. Some events allow for planning, including time and space to set up large-scale feeds, such as the World Cup soccer tournament. Other events do not provide the luxury of time and space, such as reports from journalists in Afghanistan who are “embedded” with military units, giving them unprecedented access to war coverage but no lead time and no luxuries. In these latter cases, the reporter usually uses an uplink system called a fly-away that is small enough to be folded down and shipped as airline baggage. (See Figure 2.15.) Powered by batteries, a fly-away system can be used in any remote area without any utilities. The batteries can be recharged by solar devices if necessary. Live TV can literally be done from any spot on the face of the earth as soon as the crew arrives and sets up. Travel time is the only limit to getting it on the air.
FIGURE 2.14
Satellite news gathering (SNG) trucks make it possible to feed live pictures and reports from just about anywhere in the world.
FIGURE 2.15
Workers set up a fly-away satellite. (Courtesy of Earth Stations)
COMMUNICATIONS
None of this would be possible without a top-rate communications package. This usually means a good two-way radio system or a cell phone or both. As mentioned earlier, it is critical that the transmitter and receiver of both microwave and satellite systems be pointed directly at each other. Being off by as much as one degree can mean the difference in getting the signal or not. Microwave systems are one-way transmissions. When you are in the field, you cannot tell if you are lined up with the receiver; someone at the receiving point must tell you when you have it right. Microwave receivers are generally controlled remotely from the TV station by an ENG coordinator. He or she watches a digital readout of the incoming signal’s strength, pans the receiver to get the strongest reading, then has the transmitter operator pan the truck’s antenna until the strongest signal is found. The truck operator usually has a map with the receive site(s) on it and can aim the antenna fairly accurately with a compass or a good guess. The fine-tuning should be an easy process with good communication.
Satellite setups are much more technical but can be done without talking to anyone. Because a satellite also sends a return signal, it is possible for the operator to see the quality of the signal as it is returned and tell how well in line the two are. The concern here is knowing which satellite, which channel, and what time to set up. Because people from all over the country might be trying to use the same satellite, there has to be a coordinator who tells each uplink what to do and when. Unlike a microwave system, this coordinator is usually at the headquarters of the satellite company, which might be on the other side of the country. Having a cell phone is sometimes the only answer, especially if no land-line phone is available.
The receiver dish must be lined up with the satellite in use and tuned to the channel of video and audio; these are two separate systems within the transmission. The exact times of transmission must be confirmed. Satellite time can be bought on the spot or can be arranged in advance to ensure availability. Satellite time is purchased in multiples of five minutes and often cannot be extended. If you buy five minutes of time for 12:00:00 PM, at 12:05:02 PM you are off the air; the satellite owner pulls the plug. For ENG work, this means you either buy more time than you think you need, or have someone on the phone constantly with the satellite company to okay purchasing more time if it looks like the shot is going to run long. It is also possible that the next time block has already been sold and is unavailable to you. For major news events, a network might buy up all the time available and share the time with others, using a local coordinator at a single feed point. The coordinating network feeds its material first, and all others literally line up on a first-come, first-served basis to feed their material. Because of the time factors involved with satellites, most recorded material is edited before sending, and live shots are locked into specific times so local producers must slide everything else in their program to accommodate the satellite. This is one reason most satellite trucks contain edit systems.
It should be noted that the use of satellite trucks for EFP is generally much less hectic. These situations are usually planned well in advance. Satellite time is booked with much spare time to work out any bugs or in case things run long.
Interrupted Feedback
Interrupted feedback (IFB) is just as essential as the communications needed to set up the transmissions. The on-camera talent needs to be able to hear the cue that they are on the air. IFB systems offer small earphones, sometimes called canal phones, for the talent to wear, thereby allowing them to receive directions in one ear while they are on camera. (See Figure 2.16.)
PORTABLE TV
The most primitive way of providing feedback to the talent in live news is to have a portable TV set tuned to your station; the talent can simply see when they are on the air. An earphone run from the TV set lets them hear the introduction and any questions that may follow. The camera operator usually has the same two-way radio used to set up the microwave signal with an earphone to listen for any instructions from the station. If the regular speaker in the TV is used when the reporter’s mic is live, it can cause an audio feedback (a high-pitched screech) that would ruin the shot. Using this type of IFB setup does not have the interrupt part of the system, because the audio is right off the TV. Any instructions from the show director, producer, or assignment desk must be relayed to the reporter by the photographer listening to the two-way radio. It is a good idea to be sure everyone understands the basic hand signals of TV production in case things need to be communicated while on air.
FIGURE 2.16
Newsman Roger Cooper models his IFB device, an earphone or “canal phone” through which he receives instructions from the producer in the control room. (Courtesy of Roger Cooper)
MIX-MINUS
The more common form of IFB is a separate off-air audio feed called mix-minus. This feed is from the on-air audio board with the audio from the remote or live shot taken out or subtracted. Talent can be annoyed by their own voices coming back in their ears while they are talking. Because of the time delays involved in the signal transmission, particularly with a two-second satellite delay, the talent hear their voices as strange echoes. A mix-minus feed is usually patched into a telephone line or a two-way radio. Some TV stations have a radio channel dedicated to broadcasting nothing but off-air or program audio 24 hours a day. In this way, an IFB system is always in place. Other stations with multiple channels on their two-ways might simply give one channel over to IFB for the short time needed to do the shot and use it for other traffic the rest of the time. This mixminus system allows the producer or other needed participants to interrupt the program audio and give special instructions, cues, a countdown to hit a soundbite, or whatever else is necessary, over the radio or phone IFB (hence the name interrupted feedback). Just like the dedicated radio channel for IFB, many stations have dedicated phone lines that, when called, automatically hook up to the mix-minus feed. In large markets, where there can be as many as six or seven different live shots back to back, the radio and phone systems can be quite complex.
Form and Style
Essentially, live shots are just like stand-ups. They are generally short and are done in a controlled manner. The biggest difference is that they occur at a very specific point in time and there can be no second take.
LIVE SPOT NEWS
In this age of instant information, the ability to go live from any major breaking story is essential. Breaking stories that usually get live coverage include major fires, shootings, car (bus, train, plane) crashes, natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis), and so on. Most stations have extensive plans for how to cover big stories such as these, but they all follow two basic rules.
1. If more than one crew is being sent to the event, the first crew is responsible for shooting to document the event, and the second crew on the scene is there to set up for the live shot.
2. If only one crew is available, it quickly records enough footage to air about one minute of edited video, and then returns to the van to set up the live shot.
The pressure to do two things at the same time can be intense; the desire to cover the story has to be weighed against the need to get the story out first to beat the competition. This is one of the great moral dilemmas in TV journalism. The ultimate success or failure to balance these two concerns rides on the location of the live van at the scene. If the news photographer can anticipate the situation on arrival and know whether any particular parking spot will allow for a signal to be set up, then the story can be shown live or recorded from the same location. The ideal situation is to set up where you can see the event or disaster area and leave the camera on the tripod rolling while you set up the signal and run the cables. Even though this is a two-person job, most stations only staff a live truck with one shooter-engineer. Once hooked up, the camera feeds the event live to the studio where it can be recorded as well as taken live at the producer’s call.
If the van is parked under power lines, or thick trees or tall buildings are between it and the only receiver available, then the station could be at a serious disadvantage. In extreme cases, jobs could be lost over the failure to get a signal out. The greatest pressure in television comes during setting up a live shot from a major spot news story. Without a clear battle plan as to how to pull it off, the story can turn into a nightmare. However, if you can get set up in record time and get good pictures as well, then you will most certainly be a hero.
Another concern in the location of the van is proximity to the story. You need to ask yourself questions such as these:
• Can I safely raise the mast from this spot (any overhead power lines)?
• If I have only 300 feet of cable, can I get the camera to a good vantage point?
• Am I blocking a roadway or emergency vehicle route?
• Am I too close and likely to be caught in a dangerous situation (such as a brush fire) so that I will have to move quickly?
• Are the authorities going to let me stay here?
The wrong answer to any of these questions can ruin your shoot or even cost you your life in the case of the power lines; always have a backup plan.
What the producer wants to see is the event or location itself. Sometimes this might mean being on a hilltop overlooking the site. At other times, you might have to settle for just seeing the SWAT team suiting up because the street is closed and access is denied. The main thing is to see action. If you cannot show the actual story, show the next best thing. Most of the time, the live shot is a subject in front of the camera. You should be able to zoom past the subject into anything happening in the background as the reporter talks about it. Be prepared to ride both the iris and focus (try never to use auto-iris or auto-focus). The lighting will probably be of little concern as long as the subject is visible. If the lighting is particularly bad, it might be necessary to place the subject in better lighting with a worse background and simply pan to the action.
The use of the tripod is generally determined by proximity to the action. If you are in the middle of things, it is probably best to handhold the camera. If you are at a distance, then you should use sticks. Handholding the camera can add to the drama of a live shot. The reporter can be talking to eyewitnesses or authorities; the freedom to move around can make the background interesting regardless of where the guest stands. Keep in mind that handheld shots look best at wider focal lengths. Doing spot news live is the ultimate in news coverage. Every bit of talent, experience, and training comes to bear in this situation.
SCHEDULED EVENTS
Most live shots for news are done at events planned well in advance. Parades, city council meetings, and demonstrations are typical live situations. In fact, many organizers purposely schedule their events to coincide with the news time to get live coverage. In situations like these, there is usually sufficient time to set up in a more relaxed manner, or even site-survey the location well in advance for the best spot to set up. With more prep time, it is possible to get just the shot you want. You might have to run extra cable or use a 13-GHz short hop back to the van, but you have the time to do it.
For these types of live situations, the basic rules for doing a simple stand-up apply. Find a location where there will be some action in the background, but not action that would interfere with what you are doing. The shot should convey the event easily and quickly to the viewer. Some identifiable aspect of the event should be included in the shot.
Two aspects of these types of live shots need special consideration: graphics and guests. Most TV stations tend to add a lot of written information on the screen during a live shot. Not only is the bottom third of the picture taken up with the location, reporter’s name, and station call letters or slogans, but the upper corners of the picture might be filled with words reminding the viewer that the picture is live. The shooter needs to be aware of where this information will appear and when it will be in the picture. You can spend a lot of time lining up a background, only to have it covered by a graphic. This can be particularly troublesome when the reporter has a guest. In a two-shot, their heads tend to be at the two upper corners of the picture; if the live graphic is also there, it will cover one of the subjects’ faces. Your shots must be designed around the graphics as well as the scene. (See Figure 2.17.)
FIGURE 2.17
This ECU of a model’s face would not be appropriate for a telecast that places text onto the screen; the text interferes with the essential facial features.
The best technique for shooting guests during a live shot is to have them on camera only when they are introduced or talking. One way to set up such a shot is to block it before you go live by having the guest and reporter stand side by side at a comfortable distance. The reporter should already be in the best place for the background. The guest should then take one large step to the side away from the reporter and one step back away from the camera. The guest should maintain this position throughout the live shot. This allows the videographer to start the shot on a single shot of the reporter without being zoomed in too closely. As the reporter introduces the guest, the camera can widen out to reveal the guest; the reporter then turns on the foot closest to the guest and faces him or her in an over-the-shoulder shot. This puts the two in a more traditional position for an interview, so that the camera can zoom in to the guest as a single shot without the reporter and not have a one-eye or profile view of the guest. As the interview is wrapping up, the camera can zoom back out to a two-shot and the reporter can pivot back to face the camera. The camera can now zoom in to the reporter; the guest is free to leave.
LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF LIVE
Many times in local news, shooters and reporters are asked to do live shots from places where nothing is going on. The location can be an empty field, a house where a shooting happened the night before, or just a street corner. Many stations feel it is necessary to use the live technology just to show the viewers that they have it. Even though it serves no journalistic purpose, it can be seen as a good method to train for the more important times and to experiment with different styles and techniques. You should always be looking for ways to make live shots look like they are live. For live-for-the-sake-of-live situations, this might not be easy. Try to include some action indicative of the time of day, such as a setting sun, rush-hour traffic, or maybe totally empty streets if it is for the late news.
The weather and sports segments are other examples of this type of live TV. With these two segments, it is possible to be more creative and possibly practice handholding the camera during live shots. The sports segment might come from a pregame warm-up, in which the sports anchor walks around among the players asking how their spirits are. The weather segment might be from a cultural fair where the weatherperson walks to a few booths to sample food before giving the weather. Maybe these situations aren’t hard news, but they are chances to hone some skills that can come in handy at another time.
Electronic Field Production
More and more nonnews productions are being done live. From the early days of teleconferencing to the expanding use of TV on the Internet, live television is becoming a common way to communicate. Stodgy studio teleconferences are giving way to individual managers doing their segments live from the plant floor or inside a research lab. Viewers from all over the country can ask questions of the manager and key workers as they work. Live TV for corporate, business, and educational use continues to increase. Video arraignments take place in courthouses so that prisoners do not have to leave jail to go downtown. Instructional classes are sent live to remote classrooms so that two campuses can be served by one teacher. These are just two examples of two-way, interactive, live EFP. The possibilities are endless.
What Can Go Wrong?
At almost every step of the process of portable video production, problems can occur and cause delays, resulting in shots missed, time wasted, and money lost. When something goes wrong on a live shot from the field, a newscast can become chaotic. Understanding the basic elements of live production can at least reduce the chances of something going wrong, and at best can provide you with a backup plan when the inevitable happens.
KNOW THE SYSTEM
Live TV has the most pressure of any form of this business. It is also the time when the most things usually go wrong: the station does not have your picture or audio; the talent cannot hear the cues; or the signal is full of breakup. The easiest way to deal with any of these problems is to know how the system works. If you work with a live truck (microwave or satellite), you must know the elements that make up the system and the order in which they are connected. You should be able to trace the signal from the camera to the antenna through every tiny part of the truck. If the receiver gets the color bars from the truck but not the picture from the camera, then you know the problem is not with the transmitter. You should have a checklist for the entire system within the van. The color bar generator-switcher, waveform monitor, tone generator–audio mixer, transmitter, power amp, and TV monitor are all clues to where any problem can be. If color bars are okay at the other end, and your waveform says that the video is correct, then any problem might be at the other end and not with you. The last resort is to bypass everything in the truck and put the video and audio directly into the transmitter (note that transmitters usually require line-level audio, so the mic will likely still have to run through a mixer). By eliminating possibilities, you can narrow any problem down to the piece of equipment or section of the truck. (See Figure 2.18.)
POWER IN THE TRUCK
All live trucks have a gas-powered generator to supply electricity to the video–audio racks and the transmitter. Larger generators can also provide enough power for lights as well; many are as strong as 20 amps for outside use (called tech power). A backup system, and sometimes the main system of power in small vans, is an inverter that runs off the truck’s engine. This small device converts the DC power from the engine’s alternator and turns it into AC power for use in the rack. Most large vans actually run all equipment off a battery system that is continually charged by the generator. In case of generator failure, this battery system can allow you to keep transmitting for a short period of time if the power load is kept to a minimum. Make sure you understand the power system in the truck and know what to do if any one element fails.
FIGURE 2.18
In a remote setup like the inside of this production van, a live operator must know how all the equipment works; troubleshooting is part of the daily routine.
LIGHTING
If the live shot is indoors, the lighting will be similar to that used for most stand-ups. Time, of course, is always a factor in how fancy you can get and how many lights you can set up. One consideration in doing live shots is matching the studio style of lighting. While in some cases you might do a stand-up in available light to make it fit with the rest of the story, a live shot should match more to the studio than to the story it introduces, when possible. That means a high-key flat style with little shadow or modeling detail. You must also take into account any guests who might be interviewed and the light level of the background. It would look silly to have the reporter brightly lit and the background almost black by comparison, although that is often the case when only one light is used. (See Figure 2.19.) Try always to set the light up on a stand and not on top of the camera, unless the camera must be panned beyond the range.
Typical field interviews can be lit with as little as one or two lights. If you have one light, place it in the position of the key on the reporter, making sure that the reporter’s shadow does not fall on the subject being interviewed. If you have two lights, place the second light as a backlight opposite the key light. (See Figure 2.19.)
Outdoor live shots might look easy when being set up, but the sun can move to the wrong place in the sky, such as directly behind the talent or below the horizon. You must always be conscious of what time of day the live shot will go, unless it is spot news. It might be daylight when you are setting up for the high-tide story, but at 5:30 PM when the live shot happens, it might be pitch dark because it is no longer Daylight Savings Time. If you have not set up some powerful background lights to show the surf, the live shot location could come off looking like the parking lot at the station.
FIGURE 2.19
Light placement for a live interview with one or two lights, anticipating shadows.
Live shots should always have backgrounds, and at night this can be very difficult. You cannot light up the great outdoors. A good 1,000-watt focusing spotlight can be used to punch up a detail in the background just enough to be visible over the talent’s shoulder. Most of the time, you want to light the talent at a level where the camera’s lens is wide open to get the most exposure from the background. This offers the best chance to get something in the background to show up at night. Keep in mind the power limits of your generator if you do not have a reliable source of electricity. It is possible to blow an overloaded circuit anywhere. If you use battery lights, make sure they are not going to go dead in the middle of your shot.
Cables
The minimum cable to do a live shot is one video and one audio line. Many shooters keep a 100-foot bundle of twin-lead, or Siamese (an audio and video line in one cable), to use whenever they’re in a big hurry. They can simply throw it out on the ground, hook up the camera and mic, and be ready to go. More complex shots make use of the multiline cable, which contains two video lines and four audio lines. This heavy cable, usually stored on a power reel, makes use of the full capabilities in the van. One video line is for the camera signal to the truck, another for an off-air TV signal from the truck’s antenna to be used for the talent’s monitor. One audio line is for the talent’s mic to the truck, two lines are for IFB to the talent and camera operator being fed from the van, and one spare audio line can be used for a separate guest mic. A good live van should be able to send any audio down the cable from inside the van, including the two-way radio. Always make sure you have a backup cable in case any one of the primary cables fails. It is better to go live from next to the truck than not to go live at all because of a broken cable.
Wireless
Some remote productions are set up to go wireless. This has the obvious advantage of not needing to cable the camera and microphone back to the van. Instead, each has a transmitter that sends its signal via radio frequency (RF) signals to a receiver in the van. This allows for greater portability than cabled systems. The big disadvantage of wireless systems is the same disadvantage you experience with your cell phone: interference. The airwaves are filled with wireless communication, from cell phones to garage door openers to traditional broadcast signals. When two signals using the same or nearly the same frequency get close enough to cross paths, static and breakup can occur. Additionally, certain physical elements can interfere with wireless communication, such as buildings with lots of steel in their construction. A great wireless remote broadcast can suddenly go south when the reporter’s audio turns to a staticy truck driver warning others of a speed trap as he drives by with his CB radio at the same frequency; or the image suddenly becomes snowy because someone in the adjacent hotel room begins using a hair dryer. For this reason, seasoned television technicians often prefer cabled systems to wireless, even if the reporters prefer the flexibility of wireless over cable.
Batteries
Everything needed to go live should be able to be powered by battery. The rack and transmitter should function off the tech battery in the van for at least an hour without recharge, in case the generator fails. The camera will most likely be powered by battery unless the shot is required for a very long time and AC is available. It can be very embarrassing if your battery fails while you are on the air. Always change to a fresh, fully charged battery several minutes before the live shot. The off-air TV monitor should also be battery powered, and a battery-powered light should be available in case the power fails for any AC lights you are using.
Live TV is the perfect case for knowing the condition and performance level of each of your batteries. A misjudgment here could cost the station dramatic coverage of a big story. Always have a backup battery handy. Some companies make a battery belt that uses multiple camera batteries in series, allowing one to be taken off the belt and replaced with a fresh one while not disrupting power to the camera. (See Figure 2.20.) This type of battery system would be a good investment for any live van.
FIGURE 2.20
A battery belt offers hours of juice when fully charged, and the cells can be swapped without disrupting power.
Crowds
Nothing can ruin a live shot faster than the talent being swallowed up by an overly anxious crowd of onlookers. Not only is this bad TV, but it can be dangerous as well. A live shot from an area with large crowds of angry young people can quickly get out of control. It is not unusual for such a group to turn violent, assaulting the reporter and crew. The type of people and the size of the crowd must be taken into consideration when setting up the shot. A nice quiet plaza at 3:00 PM might seem like a good place to do a simple live shot, except that at 5:00 PM the plaza is jammed with workers heading home. Perhaps you want that look, but sometimes you do not; it can get dangerous without some form of crowd control.
Many stations like to assign St. Patrick’s Day live shots from inside bars. The most dangerous crowds are drunk crowds. Do not let the station’s desire for flashy live shots push you into a situation that can cost you a camera or an injury. If the crowd cannot be controlled to your liking, then find a situation that will protect you. At times this can mean doing the live shot from the roof of the van or from behind a homemade barricade. Look at the traffic patterns of the area in which you are setting up. Do not try to do a live shot from the busiest hallway in the building. Leave room for people to walk around you and stand and watch from behind you, the videographer, and not behind the reporter. Nothing looks worse than some idiot making faces behind the talent who is talking about what a horrible tragedy has taken place. Sometimes it might be necessary to tape off an area with duct tape to keep people out (some people will walk right between you and the reporter as if you’re not there). If the situation is really bad, like a spring break story, it might even be necessary to have the police there to protect you.
Permission
Another nightmare that is quite common is to set up for a live shot and then find out the owner of the property is demanding you get out. This can happen at any time you are not on public property if you have not secured permission beforehand. In spot news, the situation is usually too chaotic for anyone to care, but if the shot does not come until after things have settled down, you might be in for a fight with an upset property owner. Police can do the same thing to you. You might set up in an area open to the press only to find that same area closed just before you are to go live. Pleading with them to give you just a few more minutes sometimes works, but you should not rely on this technique. Be prepared to move and have an alternative site picked out.
SUMMARY
Live coverage involves considerations of how to get the picture out, communicate between the field and the news desk, handle IFB, apply appropriate form and style, and anticipate everything that can go wrong. We cannot emphasize enough the fact that you have little control over when your shot will be taken live. Whether it is the satellite time that has been booked or the producer’s sense of flow within the show, it is someone else who will decide “You’re hot.” If you were hoping for a certain background, it can disappear just as the director comes to you. Unless you have total control of the picture’s contents, you must live with the fact that things change.
The only way to cover yourself is to be flexible. Never totally rely on any one thing to be there. Assume complications and obstacles. A problem can be as simple as a fire truck pulling in behind the reporter and blocking the view of the fire, or as annoying as all of the people leaving the room 30 seconds before you go live. The only safe approach to live TV is to assume everything will go wrong—because it usually does. If you consider all the factors mentioned, plan for the contingencies, and always stay two steps ahead of yourself, you should be able to surmount any obstacle to doing live TV.